Performing Arts (Bachelor's degree)

Bachelor of Performing Arts: Degree Completion Program (Fourth Year).

This degree is conferred by Capilano University and Douglas College.

The program is currently being hosted at Douglas College until February 2019 - it will move to Capilano University and be administered there for the next four years beginning in May 2019. Interested students must apply directly to Capliano. Click here for more information.

The Bachelor of Performing Arts (BPA) program is unique in Canada. Nowhere else in the country have two academic arts institutions partnered to offer a cross-disciplinary performing arts degree that has, at its heart, a commitment to collaboration and self-generation – elements which are crucial to young artists’ future success.

The program’s primary objective is real-world training. It is ideal for those who want to practice as a professional performing artist, arts manager, administrator or cultural entrepreneur, or those who wish to continue on to graduate studies in the performing arts. The program offers students the unique opportunity to create original multi-disciplinary shows while developing the entrepreneurial skills necessary to make a self-directed performing arts career feasible.

The BPA is designed to address a gap in most performing arts education: serious consideration of how students will develop the means to put their training to use once they graduate. There are many ways to do so, and most require the ability to create one’s own opportunities, often in collaboration with peers. Culture is always changing, and BPA graduates will be encouraged to define the nature of that change.

The program runs May – January, with classes during the summer and fall semesters, and the capstone Interdisciplinary Production (project) each January. If you have a specific question about the program, you can contact us via email or call 604.527.5465

Not sure if you qualify (yet)?

Admission to the BPA requires 87 credits, primarily in one or more performing arts discipline but also including English and breadth requirements, with a minimum of 12 credits at the upper level. Students with traditional two-year diplomas (60 credits) usually need to complete additional credits, often including the 12 at the upper level, in order to become eligible for the BPA program, which offers the fourth year of a Bachelor’s degree (the last 33 of the required 120 credits).

If you have at least a performing arts credential with 60 cr. or more but have completed fewer than 87 cr. in total, and you are intending to apply for the May 2019 intake, you may submit an application to Capilano while completing additional coursework in the Fall and Winter semesters. We can help advise on appropriate course selection for any outstanding credits, which can be completed at Douglas, Capilano or elsewhere (subject to transfer recognition—prior approval is advised, to avoid disappointment).

In exceptional circumstances, and at the discretion of the program, some students may be accepted to the program for May and complete a small number of outstanding credits during or after program completion.

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We would like to acknowledge that Douglas College campuses, where we live, learn, work and play, are located on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish Peoples of the QayQayt and Kwikwetlem First Nations.